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The character 身 originally depicted a human body with a prominent belly, representing pregnancy. In oracle bone script, it showed a side-view person with a bulging abdomen. Over time, the character evolved to mean 'body' or 'oneself' more generally. It belongs to the pictographic category of Chinese characters, directly representing the human torso. The character carries meanings of physical body, personal experience, and identity. Arrived in Japan: The character 身 arrived in Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BCE - 300 CE) through cultural exchange with China, likely via Korean peninsula. It was systematically introduced along with other Chinese characters during the 5th-6th centuries CE when Japan adopted Chinese writing system. The character is used in Japanese with similar meanings of 'body' or 'oneself' and appears in words like 身体 (shintai - body) and 自身 (jishin - oneself).